Dubai Is Paying Its Kids to Lose Weight — With Gold

A new government initiative aims to get kids in shape by motivating their parents.

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Dubai has implemented a new weight-loss program in which the families of kids who lose more than two kilograms of weight are eligible to be rewarded for doing so in gold, reports CBS News.

Only children who qualify as clinically obese are eligible to apply. The "Your Child Is Gold" program is meant to reduce Dubai's status as the sixth-heaviest country in the world: "It reminds us about many health benefits of reducing weight and encourages us to take strong steps to change our bad lifestyles," the government's website announced. Families can earn around two grams of gold for every two pounds their child loses, starting at the four-pound loss mark. FYI, those two grams of gold is worth more than $50.

This sounds good in theory, except for the fact that these government officials are not doctors and, therefore, should not be telling kids to lose weight. "Fasting and sports are two great benefits to the health of the human body," the same site continues. Fasting for religious reasons is one thing. Starving for the sake of gold is another.

Qualified experts are concerned. Family medicine doctor Fawad Khan told The National, "It's not an ideal way to address it, by directly pointing out the weight issue and offering aggressive measures like gold in exchange for immediate weight loss."

Other doctors are concerned about the psychological effect this weight-for-gold idea will have on these kids: "I don't agree with it at all. It's detrimental to a child's self-esteem and gives them an emotional responsibility that they're not ready for," said psychologist Charmaine van Zyl.